Oak Tree Bend Safe Passage

 @Serach & @Aponi .  Kajika has arrived. Any other OTB who want to join are also welcome.

Three days had passed since he'd seen his home, packmates, and his makeshift den.  It was weird for him to be outside the borders without his pack to back him up as he was used to. After a few hours however his old desires of wandering had kicked in and he traveled the land at a quick pace.  Once he had gotten started he was glad that he had made the choice to leave the cove, he knew he needed this time.  He'd even spent the night before he'd left cleaning himself up knowing how unpresentable he'd looked the past months.  As he traveled in the direction of spectral wood he thought about what he might find there.  It was a place that he hadn't been before.

When he finally did reach the forest he slowed his pace and put his nose to the air in search of the scent markers for the bend.  He wasn't sure he'd ever run into a wolf from this place so he was in a way eager to meet them.  He followed the scent of the markers until it became very obvious where the border was.  Kajika was careful as he approached the border and stopped a safe distance back from it so he didn't  seem threatening.  He then raised his muzzle to into the sky to call for the alphas of Oak Tree Bend.  When he finished he stepped back to wait for them to appear.

(This post was last modified: Mar 04, 2017, 01:49 AM by Kajika.)

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@Serach

Aponi and Serach had been practically attached at the hip and ah- other places, the last few days since their initial coupling. Unfortunately, they couldn't live in their little bubble forever and they had a pack to run. It was especially important this time of year to be present lest they wanted a repeat of last year's multiple litters. The mother had left to go skulk about the inner territory, surveying caches and other mundane tasks, leaving the borders to be marked by her mate. The smell of her heat had no faded yet, though it would in the coming days and it would have been foolish for the silver wolf to go voluntarily spread that scent along their border and attract unwanted attention.

Which was why when the call went up for both alphas to come to the borders, from a male voice no less Aponi hesitated. If it was just a loner then Serach could handle it without her, but if it was anything else then it would reflect badly upon the pack if both alphas did not attend. Lifting her own muzzle to the sky the mother called out to let both her mate and the caller know that she was on her way to the borders. Given how Serach had been acting before their coupling she wouldn't be surprised if his temper would have flared if she had not called first.

Thankfully when she arrived it was not the scent of a loner that met her but that of a male from Fallen Tree Cove; their allies. Still cautious given her current state she held back, standing farther away than she normally would have. Despite her distance Aponi smiled, "Aponi Donata, female leader of Oak Tree Bend."

Ears perking atop his head, the Bend leader turned to look northwest at the sound of the call. It was an unfamiliar voice, but called out for himself and Aponi. Fur bristling along the ridge of his back, Serach growled quietly at no one in irritation for having been interrupted during his rounds. His possessive need to keep Aponi well out of reach of other male wolves had not yet subsided, and so he had continued to monitor their pack borders with an aggressive determination to make it as clear as possible that this part of the woods was not a free for all. Turning to lope towards the sound of the call, he was soothed a little in knowing that at least the loner had known where to stop. He was grateful for Aponi's call too, and it spurred him on quicker so he would not be too far behind and leave her alone for too long.

Luck was on their side, though, and the lead pair converged on the stranger within a few short moments of one another. Seeing her black fur through the trees, Serach rushed forward to catch up. Brushing against her flank in a quiet greeting, he strode past her with his head and tail held high, placing himself firmly between Aponi and the stranger. He was grateful to see that the other man had kept his difference from the clearly marked borders, and it softened Serach's gaze a bit although his dominant posture did not relax. "I'm Serach Donata, Aponi's mate. What can we do for you?"

After what he'd been through the past months Kajika wasn't feeling as confident as he once would have.  He was doing better though he still had some off days, this day wasn't one of them which he was glad about.  He knew he needed to present a certain amount of confidence to get through this meeting. That was if he was met at the border at all.  He'd called for the alphas and then tried to swallow his nervousness down before they got there. He was patient waiting a respectable distance from the border so he wouldn't anger anyone accidentally, he didn't know how Oak Tree Bend was about their borders.

The first to arrive was a female the scent of her head reaching his nostrils causing them to flare slightly as he took it in. He wasn't here for that, not to mention if she was the alpha it would get him into trouble he wasn't willing to find. She introduced herself as the female lead, Kajika offered a dip of his head to show her respect before he could introduce himself a pale make wolf stepped from the trees showing the dominance that reminded him of his own alpha. He too introduced himself as the females mate and obviously the male lead, a dip of his head was offered to him as well.  “I'm Kajika Tallis second in command of Fallen Tree Cove.  I’ve come on behalf of my alpha’s to check in with you as I know our packs are allies.”

(This post was last modified: Mar 07, 2017, 07:24 AM by Kajika.)

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so sorry for the wait here guys, "Serach"

Feeling her mate brush against her side as he pushed past her caused Aponi to fall back a few steps further, allowing him to take a protective stance between herself and the visitor. His over protection brought nothing more than a smirk to the silver woman's face, she had never had a male act this way around her and frankly she was relishing it. Still, now was not the time to entice her mate into another game, there were more serious matter at paw.

Watching the dark male's nostrils flare at her scent Aponi felt her muscles stiffen slightly but she showed no other sign of alarm as he remained politely away. It wouldn't matter anyways, she was sure the Donata man between them would tear their visitor a new one before he allowed a paw to be laid on her. Nodding at his words the mother smiled slightly, "Our girls went to visit you this past winter, I trust the Cove has been well since that time?" Lila and Lena had been treated well by their allies and for that the alpha was thankful, they had come back safely without harm and had little to report. Hopefully the reason for Kajika's visit was not similar to the reason the Bend had sent their party in the first place.

(This post was last modified: Apr 12, 2017, 02:24 AM by Aponi.)

You're up @Kajika

Serach was pleased to see the Fallen Tree Cove wolf dip his head in respect, and perhaps even more pleased to have Aponi take a few steps further back. Never before in his life had Serach felt so protective over anyone, but it felt perfectly natural to want to protect her now. Even if it meant being more dominant than normal towards the member of an ally pack, although a part of Serach couldn't help but wondering what had caused the Cove wolves to send out a scout during this part of spring, of all times. They had to know there would be some packs that wouldn't treat him kindly, even if he did remain a respectful distance beyond the marked borders.

Aponi spoke first, and Serach nodded his head in quiet agreement with her. Lena and Lila had done a wonderful job, and he attributed part of the resurgence of Oak Tree Bend to their positive attitude for that particular mission. "We had them discuss a mutual hunt at some point in the future, are Namid and Vespertio ready to do that?" The only other hunt Serach had ever participated in with another pack had been anything but mutual, but as far as he could tell, the wolves of Fallen Tree Cove were decent and any portion of a kill was better than none at all.

@Aponi your up;)

Though he had taken notice of the scent coming from Aponi, Kajika wouldn't ever act upon it when he still felt some attachment to Des. Despite what had happened between them before he'd left for Oak Tree Bend. He especially wouldn't with the woman's mate standing right there making it quite clear that his life would be in danger should he lose his senses. He merely took notice and moved on to the reason he'd come to the border in the first place. While this mission had been one brought on himself he wanted to be sure to bring good information back to Fallen Tree Cove. He didn't want to let Namid and Vespertio down.

A polite smile was offered to the woman as she spoke showing concern for his pack, it was an appreciated sentiment. “Everything is well in the cove, thank you for asking. I hope things are just as well here in Oak Tree Bend?” he said returned the question in hopes it would be good news he could bring back. Kajika turned his attention to Serach as he spoke of the mutual hunt that had been agreed upon. It was in Kajika's opinion a good idea to have the hunt. He gave a polite nod to the man as well, “Yes, we can make arrangements now if you would like or you can suggest a time that would work best for you and I can take it back to my Alpha's.” He of course could then return with an answer from Namid and Vespertio. “Please let me know what would work best for you,” he said with a dip of his head.

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@Serach also if we wrap up this round feel free to pp Aponi leaving with Serach, if not I'll exit her in the next one

Seeing the man's polite smile and nod caused her slight grin to grow, returning his gesture with a mimicry of her own. Sitting her haunches upon he earth now that everyone had grown more comfort, Serach's muscles loosening slightly after she had backed up. Her silver ears flicked forward to catch her mate's words, composed mask completely hiding that she had forgotten they had meant to arrange a hunt. The heat of the season and made her preoccupied with other thoughts, though perhaps she should have remembered the task that was meant to strengthen their alliance.

Nodding once she responded politely, "Things have been much better within the Bend than when we sent our scouts." It felt odd to be speaking about any hardships they may have faced with a complete stranger and Aponi couldn't bring herself to be any more open than that. It was within her nature to play her cards close to her heart, never show anyone any kind of weakness and bluffing if she had to.  She knew the importance of the alliance and how it strengthened them as a pack, but the alpha still found the whole arrangement strange. She had not been raised to make allies, she had been raised to conquer.

Shifting comfortably behind Serach she remained silent on the hunt, this was his area of expertise after all. Not hunting, but pack relations. Besides, realistically she would not be involved in the hunt, either pregnant or rearing young children.

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

Super sorry about letting this sit so long, I didn't get the tag for it.

Aponi spoke up first, offering a polite question to know how Fallen Tree Cove had fared. Things had seemed fine, at least Lena and Lila hadn't said otherwise, but it was always good to make sure things hadn't changed. The Bend itself was a testament to how quickly a pack's fortunes could change, and now unexpected that change could be. But @Kajika offered no such news today, instead reiterating that things were going just fine up in the mountains. That was all well and good, in Serach's opinion - the more stability in each of their packs, the better they all were. Aponi responded in kind, letting their ally know that things were improving down on the valley floor too.

As for hunt arrangements, that was more complicated, and Serach's face furrowed in thought as he considered. The tantalizing scent of his mate was lurking just beneath the surface, but it was an important to reminder of what was coming up. "Perhaps later in the summer, when the new puppies will be old enough to observe and learn from it. We'll want our full strength if we're going to have any luck bringing down something big enough for both of our packs, and we won't have time to do that before summer," he explained, offering up his suggestion. "But we're flexible - if Vespertio and Namid want to meet before then, all they need to do is send a scout beforehand."

Looking back over his shoulder, he looked to Aponi to see if she had anything else to offer, but that he had gotten everything he needed.